29 July 2010

Again with the "should be working," but considering my editing queue is currently holding such gems as "How to Create Your Own Ventriloquist Dummy" and "How to Become a Police Officer in Connecticut," I just can't do it right now. Instead, I'll tell you about the lovely birthday afternoon and evening I had.

After I left you Wednesday afternoon, I scooted next door to the same cafe (Tosi's) where we had dinner the previous night. That veggie muffaletta was still calling my name. The weather had cooled some, so I grabbed an outdoor table (with distant water views!) and had the loveliest lunch.

I had to make a few adjustments to the actual sandwich -- they put mushrooms on it, which seems too weird for me, so I nixed those. I also had them add provolone (you can't have a muffaletta w/o cheese! come on!). And the "olive salad" was really just olive tapenade. BUT.... it was perfect. Mix in the side of pesto pasta and a Mexican coke, and it was triple perfect. I sat here until my battery died, then I walked around a little, peeking into a local art gallery slash tattoo parlor and... finally... the new food market! I chatted with the owner for a while, then picked up a few snacks for some bluff-bench-sitting.

They carry a bunch of freshly ground nut butters, and they offer them in little trial sizes, so I snatched up some cashew butter and some chocolate peanut butter (o. m. g.). After a few raisins, it was back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at Brewster's.

It was supposed to rain all day. It never did. Then, on our way to New Buffalo, it poured. Of course. But... then the storm took a quick turn south, and New Buffalo was never hit. We got to sit outside on the patio after all. Hooray!

I ordered up an old fashioned on a whim. It sounded mature. Then we nibbled on some salads (house for me, Caesar for Brad). For our main courses, Brad went with the four cheese pizza and I choose the seafood option -- shrimp on couscous with Mediterranean veggies and a fresh peach salsa.

I was telling Brad at dinner how part of the allure of this restaurant is its limited and changing menu -- you never know what you're going to get, and sometimes you have to order something you wouldn't normally choose. But by ordering something out of your norm, you often end up with a pleasantly surprising tasty dish. Not that I would think this dish wouldn't be tasty, but at an Italian restaurant, I'm more likely to make the obvious choice. But here, with only a few entrees to choose from, this was the only veggie option. And it was just perfect -- even with the peach salsa, which I was unsure of. Extra props for taking the dang shrimp tails off for me. I hate having gross shells in my food, even if it is the "classy" way to cook shrimp! My only complaint was the fresh parsley, which I really just hate hate. Ugh. But there wasn't enough of it to really tick me off too much. Brad also loved his pizza, even rating it higher than the lasagna he had (and loved) last time.

For dessert, I was not making the mistake of passing up the homemade cookies again. I chose a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie (and a coffee, too). Num num num num.

As far as birthday dinners go, this was on the light side. But I still felt a little overstuffed, so I convinced Brad to walk down to the beach with me.

Good thing we weren't planning on swimming!

We took in the sunset, skipped some stones, and talked about how awesome it is to have such accessibility to beaches. Maybe someday we'll even sell our house and get to move here for real!

Come on 32.... Will you pretty please be a little less sucky than 31? :D